Exodus 7:19

_AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAY UNTO AARON, TAKE THY ROD, AND STRETCH OUT THINE HAND UPON THE WATERS OF EGYPT, UPON THEIR STREAMS, UPON THEIR RIVERS, AND UPON THEIR PONDS, AND UPON ALL THEIR POOLS OF WATER, THAT THEY MAY BECOME BLOOD; AND THAT THERE MAY BE BLOOD THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT, BOTH IN VESSELS OF WOOD, AND IN VESSELS OF STONE._ Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt. Since Egypt never had but one river, and it is spoken of in the following verse under its ordinary name, Yª`or, in the singular (Genesis 15:18; Isaiah 19:5), the waters enumerated here must have been derivatives from the parent stream. [Wachªrªtaam the natural branches of the Nile in the Delta; _ Yª'OREEYHEM_ (H2975

19._And the Lord spake unto Moses. _This is the more extended narrative of which I spoke; for Moses mentions nothing different from what went before, but explains more distinctly his mode of action in the performance of the miracle, namely, that what God had commanded was completed by the instrumentality of Aaron. There was a reason for commencing with this miracle, that the Egyptians might know that there was no safeguard for them in the resources upon which they prided themselves the most. We know what great wealth, defense, and conveniences arose to them from the Nile; thence came their abundant fisheries, thence the fertility of their whole country, which it irrigated in its inundation, a thing that, in other lands is injurious; its navigation was most advantageous for their merchants, it was also a strong fortification to a good part of the kingdom. Therefore, in order to cast down...

14-25 Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. It was a dreadful plague. The sight of such vast rolling streams of blood could not but strike horror. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life, should be cheap and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for thirst. Egypt was a pleasant land, but the dead fish and blood now rendered it very unpleasant. It was a righteous plague, and justly sent upon the Egyptians; for Nile, the river of Egypt, was their idol. That creature which we idolize, God justly takes from us, or makes bitter to us. They had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews' children, and now God made that river all blood. Never any thirsted after blood, but sooner or later they...

Verse Exodus 7:19. _THAT THERE MAY BE BLOOD - BOTH IN_ VESSELS OF _WOOD, AND_ _IN_ VESSELS OF _STONE._] Not only the Nile itself was to be thus changed into blood in all its branches, and the canals issuing from it, but all the water of _lakes, ponds_, and _reservoirs_, was to undergo a similar change. And this was to extend even to _the water_ _already brought into their houses for culinary and other domestic_ _purposes_. As the water of the Nile is known to be very thick and muddy, and the Egyptians are obliged to filter it through pots of a kind of white earth, and sometimes through a paste made of almonds, Mr. Harmer supposes that the _vessels_ of _wood_ and _stone_ mentioned above may refer to the process of filtration, which no doubt has been practised among them from the remotest period....

The “streams” mean the natural branches of the Nile in Lower Egypt. The word “rivers” should rather be “canals”; they were of great extent, running parallel to the Nile, and communicating with it by sluices, which were opened at the rise, and closed at the subsidence of the inundation. The word rendered “ponds” refers either to natural fountains, or more probably to cisterns or tanks found in every town and village. The “pools”, literally “gathering of waters,” were the reservoirs, always large and some of enormous extent, containing sufficient water to irrigate the country in the dry season. IN VESSELS OF WOOD - The Nile water is kept in vessels and is purified for use by filtering, and by certain ingredients such as the paste of almonds....

EXPOSITION THE FIRST PLAGUE. The first miracle had been exhibited, and had failed. It had been a mere "sign,'' and in no respect a "judgment." Now the "judgments ' were to begin. God manifests himself again to Moses, and gives him exact directions what he is to do. He is to meet Pharaoh on the banks of the Nile, and to warn him that a plague is coming upon all Egypt on account of his obstinacy; that the waters of the Nile will be turned to blood, so that the ash will die, and the river stink, and the Egyptians loathe to drink of the water of the river (Exodus 7:15-2). Pharaoh not yielding, making no sign, the threat is to be immediately followed by the act. In the sight of Pharaoh and his court, or at any rate of his train of attendants (Exodus 7:20

AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES,.... Pharaoh still being obstinate, and refusing to let the people go: SAY UNTO AARON, TAKE THY ROD, AND STRETCH OUT THINE HAND UPON THE WATERS OF EGYPT; upon all of them in general, what were in the river Nile, or derived from it, as follows: UPON THEIR STREAMS; the seven streams of the river Nile, Isaiah 11:15. UPON THEIR RIVERS; the canals that were cut out of the river Nile, for the watering of their fields and gardens, for they had no other river: AND UPON THEIR PONDS, AND UPON ALL THEIR POOLS OF WATERS; which were dug near the river, or to which pipes were laid to convey the water thither: THAT THEY MAY BECOME BLOOD; and so not fit to drink: AND THAT THERE MAY BE BLOOD THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT, both in

4. THE NINE PLAGUES AND THE TENTH JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED CHAPTER 7:14-25 The First Plague _ 1. The plague announced (Exodus 7:14)_ 2. The judgment executed (Exodus 7:20) Nine judgment plagues follow, and after they had passed, the tenth, the great judgment, fell upon Egypt. There are striking and different characteristics of these plagues. Aaron uses his rod in the beginning of the plagues, while Moses stretches out his rod and hand in the last three, not counting the slaying of the firstborn. Some of them were announced beforehand, others were not announced and came without warning. We give them now in their order: 1. Water turned into blood; 2. Frogs; 3. Lice; 4. Flies; 5. Murrain; 6. Boils; 7. Hail; 8. Locusts; 9. Darkness (see

1°. WATER TURNED INTO BLOOD (Exodus 7:14 a J; Exodus 7:15 b E_ r_; Exodus 7:16 a J; Exodus 7:17 b, with the rod. hand, E; Exodus 7:17 c - Exodus 7:18 J; Exodus 7:19 a, commanded, P; Exodus 7:20 b, to servants, E; Exodus 7:20 c -...

THE LORD SPAKE. See note on Exodus 6:10, and compare note on Exodus 3:7. STREAMS. canals. RIVERS. the seven streams of the Delta. PONDS. lakes where reeds grew. POOLS. reservoirs. VESSELS OF WOOD, &c. Genitive of material. Figure of speech _Metony my_ (of Cause). App-6. Hebrew "woods and stones", put for [channels] made of wood [and canals] made of stone....